Teslas and Cybertrucks…random thoughts

[KSera]

18 minutes ago, AmandaVT said:

I have a very small sample size, but whenever I have used uber, the driver is frequently driving a Tesla. I really noticed it when I was in NYC and DC last year. So I'm assuming that there's a miles/year balance point where they become a much better deal to drive than a gas car (is that the ICE car?) otherwise there wouldn't be so many tesla ubers.

Yes! I actually just the other day in response to this thread saw this video from a taxi driver whose Tesla has 430,000 miles on its original battery at this point!

Meet The Tesla That Won’t Die: 430,000 Miles On One Battery!

 

Also this very short one (from Australia) doing the battery math and pointing out that actual use data is showing only about a 2 to 3% degradation of battery range per year:

How long will a Tesla Battery last?

So, hate on them for other reasons, but battery replacement and safety don’t hold up as reasons. 

[Dmmetler]

I'm looking at an EV as my next car-one of my friends has a plug in Honda EV after a series of Prius, and loves it. My current car is a 2006 and my DH's is a 1990-we operate on the "buy a car and use it until the wheels fall off (or, specifically, until the 2nd time  the same non-wear system needs replaced), so when we buy new, the assumption will be that this will be another 20 year purchase or so-and it's definitely getting to be time for a new car. (My car is the primary vehicle-DH works from home and it's rare for us to need 2 cars even once a month). 

 

My friend has a Tesla Powerwall, which both serves as a power source for the house (with city power as backup), a generator for if power goes out, and also charges the car, and says it's worked very well-their power consumption is almost nothing, and the cost of the car, so far, has been almost nothing to run. 

 

Has anyone else done an EV/Solar combo? How has it worked? I'm a little concerned that we might have too many trees (which serve a very valuable purpose in keeping the house cool for more than half the year here)-but it kind of feels like it would make sense to do both. 

[KSera]

44 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

Has anyone else done an EV/Solar combo? How has it worked? I'm a little concerned that we might have too many trees (which serve a very valuable purpose in keeping the house cool for more than half the year here)-but it kind of feels like it would make sense to do both.

We have looked at it. Costs keep coming down, but it’s still in the range where in order to get a big enough system to cover most of our electrical needs, it would be out of budget. I expect eventually it will cross the price threshold to be doable for us. 

 

[DawnM]

On 8/29/2024 at 11:36 AM, Catwoman said:

Aside from the fact that I think the Cybertrucks are hideously ugly, I would never buy anything that would support Elon Musk in any way, shape, or form.

 

Yup, this.   I used to like Teslas but now that I know more about Musk, I would never buy one.   And it not only supports Musk, but I won't get political.   But I do find it funny that the hate for electric vehicles for being so "liberal" is now 180.

[Corraleno]

From the Independent (UK):

Elon Musk suggests support for replacing democracy with government of ‘high-status males’: The theory suggests that the only people able to think freely are ‘high [testosterone] alpha males’ and ‘aneurotypical people’

The original comment that he retweeted to his 200 million followers supposedly came from 4-Chan, which makes sense given their claim that women and "low testosterone males" can't think clearly and are too easily influenced by social media, therefore only alpha males should be able to vote. The irony of guys self-identifying as "high testosterone alpha males" claiming that they are the only ones smart and logical enough not to be influenced by social media is just hilarious.